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An ATM containing thousands of dollars was removed from a Newport Beach restaurant Saturday, police said. Police received a call about 10:30 a.m. reporting the crime at DivBar Bayfront Kitchen, 2601 W. Coast Hwy. The thieves shut off the restaurant's power and forced open a window, Newport Beach police spokeswoman Jennifer Manzella said. Once inside, they removed a free-standing ATM that held about $4,500 in cash, according to Manzella. - Jeremiah Dobruck Twitter: @jeremiahdobruck

Alan Greeley may not be the Iron Chef, but he has a title of some kind. Sunday afternoon, at the tail end of the OC Fair, Greeley and Massimo Navarretta faced off in a cooking challenge to help promote the third annual Costa Mesa Restaurant Week. The contestants had to incorporate corvina sea bass into four dishes and had a slew of other ingredients at their disposal. Greeley, chef and owner of the Golden Truffle, got the judges' nod over Navarretta, who oversees Onotria Wine Country Cuisine.

Forget bread on sandwiches, the people want waffles. The gourmet waffle sandwich chain, Bruxie, is opening its sixth Southern California location Tuesday at the Heritage Plaza Center in Irvine, according to a news release. The chain, which first opened in Old Towne Orange in 2010, offers gourmet waffle sandwiches, salads, shakes and sundaes. Chefs and partners Dean Simon and Kelly Mullarney created Bruxie. "We opened our first location with confidence in our concept, but we had no idea the sensation that Bruxie would become, so we are continually looking for ways to better serve our guests," Simon said in a prepared statement.

Cucina Enoteca, an Italian restaurant that is part food, part retail, is opening a second Orange County location at Newport Beach's Fashion Island next year. "I think it's a perfect fit for us," said Tracy Borkum, principal of Urban Kitchen Group, which operates the Cucina restaurants. Cucina Enoteca markets itself as a modern-meets-rustic Italian kitchen with a "restaurant to retail" concept, where just about everything is on sale. Diners can buy the chairs they're sitting on, the light fixtures above them or hand-selected wines from the dedicated wine shop.

Before a small crowd of flashing cameras, curious onlookers and hungry attendees, the men stuffed and artfully hand-folded the dumplings with tiny twists. Soon after, out they came from bamboo steamers during a small gathering Monday afternoon at South Coast Plaza that served as a preview for Din Tai Fung, the Chinese restaurant set to open in the Costa Mesa shopping center in spring 2014. The restaurant, renowned for its dumplings, will take up a nearly 8,000-square-foot space near the Sears wing.

Many an inebriated college student may have thought about how good tacos wrapped in a Doritos shell would taste, but a prison inmate is suing Irvine-based Taco Bell, saying the idea for the fast-food hit was his. Gary Anthony Cole, 49, filed a federal lawsuit May 15 in Dallas against Taco Bell, which is owned by Irvine-based Yum Brands, and Frito-Lay, which owns Doritos, and Pepsi Co. Cole claims he created the idea for the Doritos Locos Tacos...

The Saddle Ranch Chop House and El Corazón de Costa Mesa, two new restaurants at The Triangle, held small ribbon-cutting ceremonies earlier this week. Costa Mesa Chamber of Commerce employees, city officials and others posed for the grand-opening photos - complete with the big scissors - for the Western-themed steakhouse restaurant and Mexican food establishment Wednesday afternoon. Mayor Pro Tem Steve Mensinger and representatives from the offices of Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa)

One of two Orange County restaurants threatened with legal action by animal rights activists has decided to stop serving foie gras. Broadway by Amar Santana in Laguna Beach will no longer dish up fattened duck liver as a complimentary side to a $55 glass of wine. "We're calling it quits," Ahmed Labbate, Amar Santana's partner and director of operations at Broadway, said Friday. "I wish I had the money to fight PETA, but we don't. We're a small restaurant and we don't have the means.

A driver crashed through a Chinese restaurant in Costa Mesa around lunchtime Friday, authorities said. Firefighters responded to a report at 11:18 a.m. that a woman in a Toyota Camry drove about 20 to 25 feet into Golden Garden Chinese Food at 1505 E. Mesa Verde Drive, according to Battalion Chief Fred Seguin. The woman was pulling into a parking spot in front of the restaurant when she continued into the building, Seguin said. No one was injured in the crash. Damage was estimated at about $5,000.

Going out to eat is supposed to be one of life's pleasures. You don't have to cook or clean up afterward. Plus, servers take your order and bring your food. For just a little bit of money you can feel a lot of specialness, even if it's only for an hour or two. Unfortunately, sometimes the experience is lacking. As a coffee drinker, I expect to receive refills once my cup is near empty. So it is especially frustrating when one dines out and has a server who doesn't do that.